TORONTO, March 8 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar
strengthened sharply on Friday to hit a one-week high after much
better-than-expected jobs growth in February in both Canada and
its main trading partner, the United States.

Canada added almost 51,000 jobs in the month, with strong
gains in services industries that vaulted the total well past
the 8,000 additions expected by analysts surveyed by Reuters.

U.S. employers also stepped up hiring, pushing the
unemployment rate to a four year-low, suggesting the world's
biggest economy is gaining traction despite the blow from higher
taxes and deep government spending cuts.

"It's hard to separate the impact given that we had two
pretty stellar reports on employment in Canada and the U.S. so
it looks like the strength may persist throughout the rest of
the day," said Mazen Issa, a macro strategist at TD Securities.

The Canadian currency got to C$1.0234 to the
greenback, or 97.71 U.S. cents, soon after the employment data,
its best rate since Feb 28.
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